Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 (JCIET) 4211 (Online)

Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

ISSN 2347 4203 (Print) ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), pp. 15-25 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/jciet.asp

JCIET
IAEME

DEVELOPMENT OF MIX DESIGN FOR LOW CALCIUM BASED GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE IN LOW, MEDIUM AND HIGHER GRADES -INDIAN SCENARIO
Kolli.Ramujee, Member, IACSIT , Dr.M.Potharaju

ABSTRACT Geopolymer concrete is a cement less concrete gaining popularity globally towards the sustainable development .It is a type of amorphous alumino-silicate cementitious material which can be synthesized by polycondensation reaction of geopolymeric precursor and alkali polysilicates. Beside fly ash, alkaline solution is utilized to make geopolymer paste which binds the aggregates to form geopolymer concrete. Even though some studies could be seen in literature on geopolymer concrete, not much work has been reported in the area of development of mix design procedures for different grades, In addition, some of the conclusions are contradictory.. In this paper an attempt is made to develop the mix design for Geopolymer concrete in low, medium and higher grades and relative comparison has been made with equivalent mix proportions of grades of OPC Concretes in both heat cured and ambient cured conditions. About 7 different mixes for each grade is casted, tested and optimized and the results are in agreement with mix design reported in the Reference(6) . The design parameters like alkaline liquid to flyash ratio and water to Geopolymer solids ratio were proposed to develop the Geopolymer concrete in lower grades. INDEX TERMS: Compressive strength, Fly ash, Geopolymar, Molarity I. INTRODUCTION The production of Portland cement, a main component of making concrete, contributes significant amount of greenhouse gas, because the production of one ton of Portland cement also releases about one ton of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere [1].Therefore, the introduction of a novel binder called geopolymer by Davidovits [2,3] promises a good prospect for application in the concrete industry as an alternative binder to Portland cement. In terms of reducing global warming, the geopolymer technology could reduce the CO2 emission to the atmosphere caused by cement and aggregates industries by 80% [4].Inspired by this novel technology and the fact that fly ash is a waste material abundantly available, an attempt
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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

has been made to develop an alternative concrete binder by applying the geopolymer technology and utilising fly ash as the source material to produce the Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete. Hardjito, et. al. [5] introduced the early work on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete dealing with the manufacturing process and the effect of curing period, curing temperature and the age of concrete on the compressive strength of fly ash-based geopolymer concrete. Moreover, the effect of alkaline ratio and the ratio of alkaline to water was also studied. More research results on the factors affecting the compressive strength and other properties of fresh and hardened fly ash-based geopolymer concrete were also reported [6-8]. Attempts to apply this material as a structural material have geopolymer concrete beams and columns [9] been carried out by studying the behavior and strength of reinforced fly ash-based geopolymer concrete beams and columns [9].This paper presents the study on fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, focused on mix design for three grades i.e low. Medium and higher grades have been arrived and tested for compressive strength. II. GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE Davidovits (1988; 1994) proposed that an alkaline liquid could be used to react with the silicon (Si) and the aluminum (Al) in a source material of geological origin or in by-product materials such as fly ash and rice husk ash to produce binders. Because the chemical reaction that takes place in this case is a polymerization process, he coined the term Geopolymer to represent these binders. Geopolymers are members of the family of inorganic polymers. The chemical composition of the geopolymer material is similar to natural zeolitic materials, but the microstructure is amorphous. The polymerization process involves a substantially fast chemical reaction under alkaline condition on Si-Al minerals, those results in a three-dimensional polymeric chain and ring structure consisting of Si-O-Al-O bonds. The Lierature(2-4), reveals that water is released during the chemical reaction that occurs in the formation of geopolymers. This water, expelled from the geopolymer matrix during the curing and further drying periods, leaves behind discontinuous nano-pores in the matrix, which provide benefits to the performance of geopolymers. The water in a geopolymer mixture, therefore, plays no role in the chemical reaction that takes place; it merely provides the workability to the mixture during handling. This is in contrast to the chemical reaction of water in a Portland cement concrete mixture during the hydration process. III . FLY ASH-BASED GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE Geopolymer concrete is manufactured using source materials that are rich in silica and alumina. While the cement-based concrete utilises the formation of calcium-silica hydrates (CSHs) for matrix formation and strength, geopolymers involve the chemical reaction of alumino-silicate oxides with alkali polysilicates yielding polymeric SiOAl bonds [4,5]. In this experimental work, fly ash is used as the source material to make geopolymer paste as the binder, to produce concrete. The manufacture of geopolymer concrete is carried out using the usual concrete technology methods. As in the Portland cement concrete, in fly ash-based geopolymer concrete, the aggregates occupy the largest volume, i.e. about 75-80% by mass. . Sodium-based activators were chosen because they were cheaper than Potassium-based activators. The sodium hydroxide was used, in flake or pellet form. It is recommended that the alkaline liquid is prepared by mixing both the solutions together at least 24 hours prior to use. .
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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

The mass of NaOH solids in a solution varied depending on the concentration of the solution expressed in terms of molar, M. The concentration of sodium hydroxide solution can vary in the range between 8 Molar and 16 Molar. The mass of water is the major component in both the alkaline solutions. In order to improve the workability, a melamine based super plasticizer has been added to the mixture. IV. MIXTURE PROPORTIONS OF GEOPOLYMER CONCRETE The primary difference between Geopolymer concrete and Portland cement concrete is the binder. The silicon and aluminium oxides in the low calcium flyash reacts with the alkaline liquid to from the geopolymer paste that binds the loose coarse and fine aggregates and other unreacted materials to form the geopolymer concrete. As in the case of Portland cement concrete the coarse and fine aggregates occupy about 75% to 80% of the mass of Geopolymer concrete. This component of Geopolymer concrete mixtures can be designed using the tools currently available for Portland cement concrete.The compressive strength and workability of geopolymer concrete are influenced by the proportions and properties of the constituent materials that make the geopolymer paste. Experimental results have shown the following(4-6) As the H20- Na20 molar ratio increases ,the compressive strength of Geopolymer concrete decreases Higher the concentration of Sodium hydroxide solution results in higher compressive strength of geopolymer concrete. Higher the ratio of Sodium silicate to Sodium hydroxide by mass higher the compressive strength. Based on the above guide lines the trial mixture is desined as follows. Example DESIGN MIX OF G 40. Design stipulations Assume density of aggregate as unit weight of concrete = 2400 kg/m3. Mass of Combined aggregate = 75-80 % (consider 0.77%) = 2400 x 0.77% = 1848 kg/m3 now, mass of combined aggregate = 1848 kg/m3 Mass of Fly ash and alkaline Liquid = 2400-1848 = 552 kg/m3 let us take alkaline liquid to fly ash ratio as 0.4. Now the mass of fly ash = (552)/(1+0.4) = 394.28 kg/m3 Mass of alkaline liquid = 552-394.28 = 157.21 kg/m3 Let us consider the ratio of NaoH to Na2sio3 as 2.5. Now mass of NaoH solution =(157.21)/(1+2.5)=45.06 kg/m3 Mass of Na2sio3 solution = 157.21-45.06 = 112.64 kg/m3 w calculating the total amount of mass of water and mass of solids in the sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solution, Sodium Hydroxide solution (NaoH) : Considering 16M concentration, where in the solution consists of 44.4% of solids(pallets) and 63.5% of water. Mass of solids = (44.4/100) x (45.06) = 20.00 Kg Mass of water = 45.06 - 20.00 = 25.06 Kg Sodium Silicate Solution (Na2sio3) :
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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

The water content in the silicate solution in observed as 63.5%. So, the Mass of Water = (63.5/100) x (112.64) = 71.52 Kg Mass of solids = 112.64 71.52 = 41.11 Kg Total mass of water: mass of water in NaoH solution + mass of water in Na2sio3. solution = 25.60 + 71.52 = 96.58 Kg. Total mass of solids : mass of solids in NaoH soluion + mass of solids in Na2sio3 solution + mass of Fly ash = 20.00 + 41.11 + 394.28 = 455.39 Kg.Ratio of water to Geopolymer Solids : Ratio = (96.58) / (455.39) = 0.21. Mixture proportion are shown in table:2

Table 1..Chemical composition of flyash Oxides Percentage SiO2 60.54 Al203 26.20 Fe2O3 5.87 CaO 1.91 MgO 0.38 K2O+Na2O 1.02 SO3 0.23 Loss on ignition 2.0 Table :2 Properties of aggregates Coarse Aggregate Fine Aggregate 2.78 0.50 7.21 1675 Crushed granite stone 2.63 1% 2.40 1570 River sand

Property Specific gravity

Water absorption Fineness modulus Bulk density source

Table :3 Properties of Sodium silicate solution Specific gravity 1.56-1.66 Na2O 15.5-16.5 SiO2 31-33 Weight ratio 2 Molar ratio 2

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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

Table :4 Properties of Sodium hydroxide(NaOH) Molar mass 40 g/mol Appearance Density Melting point Boiling point Amount liberated Storage of heat White solid 2.1gr/cc 3180C 13900C 266 cal/gr Air tight container

V. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM The sodium hydroxide flakes were dissolved in distilled water to make a solution with a desired concentration at least one day prior to use. The fly ash and the aggregates were first mixed together in a pan mixer for about three minutes. The sodium hydroxide and the sodium silicate solutions were mixed together with superplasticizer and the extra water and then added to the dry materials and mixed for about four minutes. The fresh concrete was cast into the molds immediately after mixing, in three layers and compacted with manual strokes and vibrating table. After casting, the specimens were cured at 60C for 24 hours. Two types of curing were applied, Heat curing and Ambient curing. For heat curing, the specimens were cured in an oven and for Ambient curing the specimens were left to air for desires period. The heat cured specimens were left to air-dry in the laboratory for the next six days until testing on the 7th day and 28th day. For each grade of Geopolymer concrete mix about 7 mixture proportions were tested and optimized by taking the mix which is giving maximum compressive strength at 28 days under Heat curing( Oven curing) and Ambient cured conditions. Based on earlier research conducted in Materials testing lab by the author, the following parameters were maintained constant throughout the Experimental work. The parameters are The ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide =2.5 The curing Temperature = 600C The curing duration = 24Hrs Ratio of Fine aggregate to total Aggregate = 0.35 The other parameters varies between different grades of concrete. The Concentration of NaoH is kept constant i.e 8M for G20 grade whereas for G40 and G60 grade concretes it was maintained as 16M.For G40 & G60 mixes the alkaline solution to flyash ratio was 0.40 ,whereas for G20 the ratio is limited to 0.35. The Final Mixture proportions after optimization are shown below. Table .5 displays the mixture proportions of the geopolymer concrete in this research.The basic Geopolymer mixes (G20,G40 &G60) arrived at

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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

Table:5 Optimized mix proportions for various grades of Geopolymer concrete (Kg/m3) Grade of GPC Fly ash Fine Aggregate

G20 327 672

G40 394.3

G60 408.9

646.8

554.0

Coarse Aggregate NaoH concentartion Na2Sio3 Extra water Super plasticizer (GLENIUM)

1248

1201.2

1294.0

54.33( 8M) 108.67 --------

45.06(16M) 112.64 -----4

40.89(16M) 102.22 ----6

Ratio of Mixture proportions 1:1.76 Liquid/binder ratio Water/geopolymer Solids ratio

1:1.64:3.04

1:1.35:3.16

0.50 0.28

0.40 0.21

0.35 0.158

Heat cured specimens @ 600C,for 24hrs Compressive 3 strength@ 7 days 28 Compressive 3 strength@ 7 days 28 26.6 43.20 28.8 45.00 30.4 50.00 Ambient cured specimens 5.4 7.92 11.6 21.40 28.2 46.8 66.8 68.6 71.2 14.2 32.4 69.2

Three control mixes of M20,M40 & M60 of OPC concrete made by varying water cement ratio to achieve the same level of strength with Geopolymer concrete.

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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

Table:6. Mix proportions of Counterparts ( Mix proportions of OPC Conventional concrete expressed as Equivalent Proportions of GPC) Grade of concrete M20 M40 394.3 Cement Fine Aggregate Coarse Aggregate Water Super plasticizer Mix Proportion W/C ratio Water cured 3 7 days 28 1:2.05:3.81 1:1.64:3.04 0.50 0.40 Compressive strength (MPa) 12.6 23.3 17.5 31.6 27.5 48.8 1:1.35:3.16 0.35 32.1 45.5 68.6 1248 163 2 1201.2 157.7 4 1294.0 143.11 6 672 646.8 554.0 327 408.9 M60

VI. RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS Based the Experimental investigations carried out on low, medium & high strength geopolymer concrete, the concluded data can be presented in the following form. Table 7: Data for design of low-calcium flyash based geopolymer concrete mixtures Description Previous work(6) Present work Compressive Strength,Mpa

20

40

58

20

40

60

Alk.liquid/ Flyash ratio Water/Geopoly mer solids ratio Workability (Slump)

-----

0.40

0.30

0.50

0.40

0.35

--------

0.21 Mode rate

0.165 Very stiff

0.28 High

0.21 mode rate

0.158 Moderat e

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Journal of Civil il Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ( ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December July (2013), IAEME

Compressive strength tests were performed at the age of ,7 and 28 days in accordance with IS:516-1959 1959 under 2000KN Compression testing machine with uniform rate of load application for Geopolymer concrete mixes and control mixes. It can be seen from the results re that the compressive strength increases with increase in the flyash content and decrease of water to geopolymer solids ratio for all ages.It is also observed that 90% of strength is achieved with in 7 days and there is not much variation in strength after 7 days under heat cured conditions. It is observed that the strength development of Geopolymer concrete for all grades is slow under ambient conditions and 100% strength achieved at 28 days only. The behavior of Geopolymer concret concrete for all grades is similar to their counterpart mixes( Conventional mixes).The The Influence of alkaline liquid to flyash ratios and molar concentrations of NaOH on the compressive strengths geopolymer concretes for low, medium and higher grades are shown in fig1 , 2 & 3 and and their counterparts i.e Conventional, equivalent grades M20,M40 & M60 are shown in fig.4. Compressive strengths are found to decrease with increase in alkaline liquid to flyash ratios even though higher activator(Alkaline liquid) to binder(flyash) ratio effectively contains a higher amount of activating alkali.it shows that higher porosity is created because of increased amount of the activating solution and the substantial increase in number of pores as a result of increase in pores due to heat curing. curing

Pan Mixture used for Mixing the proportions

Specimens wrapped with polythene cover in Oven Curing

Geopolymer concrete cube after Failure

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Journal of Civil il Engineering and Technology ( (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December July (2013), IAEME

Compressive strength VS No.Of Days For G20 grade

40

30 20 10 0 3 7 28

Heat Cured Ambient Cured

Compressive strength (Mpa)

Compressiive strength(Mpa)

liquid/ binder =0.50

Compressive strength VS No.of days for G40 grade liquid/

60 40 20 0 3 7 28

binder =0.40 Water/gp solidsHeat =0.21

Cured Ambient Cured

No.Of Days

Fig.1 Compresive strength VS No.Of Days for G60 grade

Liquid/bind er=0.35
Heat Cured Ambient Cured

Fig:2 Compressive strength Vs No.of days for Conventional concrete

80 60 40 20 0 3 7 28 M20 grade with w/c =0.50 M40 grade with w/c =0.40

80

60 40 20 0 3 7 28

Compreesive strength (Mpa)

Compresive Strength

No.of.

Fig.3 VII. CONCLUSION

Fig.4

1) From the investigation it is clear that for Water/binder ratio & alkaline liquid/Flyash ratio are the governing factors in designing the Geopolymer mix design for various grades. The Water/binder ratios of 0.27 , 0.21& 0.158 and Alkaline liquid to flyash ratios of 0.50,0.40 &0.35 are suggested for G20 ,G40 & G60 respectively which indicates improvement in compressive strength of geopolymer concrete can be achieved by decreasing water binder ratio. 2)The compressive strength attained at 28 days for all grades of Geopolymer concrete under ambient curing is almost equal to compressive strength achieved by Geopolymer concrete at 7 days . Because of the slow reactivity of flyash at ambient temperature, considerable heat must be applied to increase the geopolymerization process. 3). . The decrease in water content favors the formation of geopolymerization process process, which demands for increase of concentration of Sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate silicates. Hence increase in concentration of NaOH results in increase of compressive strength strength .Hence it is recommended 8M,16M&16M M&16M concentrations for Low ,medium and higher grades respectively.
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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

4).It is recommended to add Superplasticizers for high strength Geopolymer concretes, which is analogous to Conventional concrete of higher grades to secure required workability. 5).It also reported that unlike in the past literature, inclusion of high alkaline solution content to the mix need not increases the strength which can be seen from reported Geopolymer mixes in the present work. 6) For Lower grade of GPC, definite mix design procedure is not available in the past literature which was incorporated in the present work. REFERENCES 1. Davidovits, J., Geopolymer Chemistry and Properties. Proceedings of Geopolymer '88, First European Conference on Soft Mineralurgy, The Geopolymer Institute, Compiegne, France, 1988,pp. 25-48. Davidovits, J., Soft Mineralurgy and Geopolymers, Proceedings of Geopolymer '88, First European conference on Soft Mineralurgy, The Geopolymer Institute. Compiegne, France, 1988, pp. 19-24. Davidovits, J., Global Warming Impact on the Cement and Aggregates Industries, World Resource Review, 6(2), 1994, pp. 263-278. Hardjito, D., Wallah S.E., and Rangan B.V.Study on Engineering Properties of Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete, Journal of the Australasian Ceramic Society, 38(1), 2002, pp. 44-47. Hardjito, D., Wallah, S. E., Sumajouw, D.M.J.and Rangan, B.V., Factors influencing the Compressive Strength of Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete, Civil Engineering , High Performance Concretes and Smart Materials. Dimension (Dimensi Teknik Sipil), 6(2), 2004, pp.88-93. Hardjito, D., Wallah, S.E., Sumajouw, D.M.J.and Rangan, B.V., On the Development of FlyAsh-Based Geopolymer Concrete, ACI Materials Journal, 101(6), 2004, pp. 467-472. Hardjito, D., Wallah, S.E., Sumajouw, D.M.J.and Rangan, B.V., Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete, Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, 6(1), 2005, pp. 77-86. Sumajouw, D.M.J., Hardjito, D., Wallah, S.E.and Rangan, B.V., Behaviour and Strength of Geopolymer Concrete Columns, 18th Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, Perth, Australia: A.A. Balkema, Vol 1,2004, pp. 175-180. Neville, A.M., Properties of Concrete, Fourth and Final ed, Pearson Education, Longman Group Essex, England, 2000. IS-2386-1963,Method of test for Aggregate concrete,Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. IS: 383-1970, Specification for coarse and fine aggregates from the natural sources for concrete, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. IS: 4031 1988, Method for physical tests for hydrated cement, Bureau ofIndian Standards, New Delhi. IS: 516-1959, Method of test for strength of Concrete, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

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10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

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Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (JCIET), ISSN 2347 4203 (Print), ISSN 2347 4211 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), IAEME

AUTHORS DETAIL

SRI.K.RAMUJEE received his M.Tech in Structural Engineering from the JNT University ,Hyderabad in 1997. He is a life member of Indian society for Technical Education(ISTE),India and International society for computer science and Information Technology(IACSIT). He is currently pursuing PhD and working as a Associate Professor in Post graduation department of Structural Engineering, VNRVignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology ,Hyderabad, India. He is having overall teaching & Industrial experience of 15 years. His major research interests are materials for sustainable development, Behavior of concrete composites due to fire and Finite element analysis of structures..He has published more than 14 papers in the International , National conferences and Journals.

Dr. M.Potha Raju received his Ph.D degree from Andhra university ,Visakhapatnam ,India in 1998. He is a fellow of Institution of Engineers , Indian association for Structural Engineers . He is currently working as a professor of civil Engineering ,GITAM University ,Visakhapatnam. He is having a Teaching experience of 20 years and 10 years in research. His major research interests are Behavior of concrete composites subjected to fire, Recycled aggregate concrete etc.He has completed various research projects funded by AICTE and DST etc. He has published more than 50 papers in International and National Journals and Conferences. He has conducted various International and National conferences and workshops .He has guided the PhD Scholars and has been supervising the PhD and M.Tech projects.

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